As a sales team leader, it is important to create a positive environment for your team; a productive space in which they can celebrate their successes and reflect – but not dwell – on their failures. If not managed correctly, one person's bad day or mood can manifest itself around the entire office and before you know it your once thriving office has lost its spark and your best sales people are looking elsewhere.
We are currently in a very candidate-driven market; companies are fighting over top talent and doing their upmost to ensure they retain staff. Unsurprisingly, one of the main reasons Executive Talent candidates tell us they want to leave is because they do not enjoy their current working environment. Here are some of the things to focus on to ensure you retain a highly motivated team;
On-going training – our most popular clients are the ones that provide on-going training for their staff. The best employees are the ones that are not complacent and want to continue to develop throughout their careers. Offering training to your staff not only ensures that you have a skilled workforce, but shows them that you value them enough to continuously invest in their personal development.
Staff input – taking the time to listen to your staff and their ideas is what differentiates a strong leader from a poor one. It is unlikely that your entire sales team will be home grown and therefore staff may have experiences and initiatives taken from previous employers that could benefit you.
Benefits and incentives – generally salespeople like to win! Nowadays companies offer great bonus and commission structures, so while this is still a draw for candidates, it is also expected and considered the norm. Anything that you can do to further motivate your staff can go a long way and doesn't have to cost the company a huge amount. It also introduces healthy competition between co-workers in the office which will help increase activity.
Celebrating wins – the term 'peaks and troughs' is often used when describing a career in sales. There are inevitably highs and lows in a sales environment and it is human nature to dwell and reflect on negative experiences. However, it is very demotivating for an employee if they feel as though they are chastened for their mistakes and not congratulated for their successes. It is extremely important to remember to take the time to celebrate your team's wins – even the small ones.
It all sounds very obvious, but these are things that can really make the difference between a negative, frustrated team and a positive and motivated one!
